


You Can't Call Dibs on People

by FeralScribe



Series: Widomauk Week 2019 Prompts [2]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Confessions, Don’t copy to another site, Drunken Confessions, Fluff, Goodnight Kiss, Hupperdook, M/M, Other, Sharing a Bed, Widomauk Week 2019, widomauk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-05 20:06:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19047466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeralScribe/pseuds/FeralScribe
Summary: Molly finds himself in the wrong room after the Hour of Honor in Hupperdook, but in the right situation to get something off his chest.Art is by the ever-wonderfulm-ollymau-k!





	You Can't Call Dibs on People

Molly has not been this drunk in a very long time. The Hour of Honor was rougher than he anticipated. Throwing up made him feel a little better, and he did a good job of making it look like Fjord did it to himself. However, in the process of dragging Fjord back to their room, Molly gets messy enough that he staggers back to the washroom to clean himself up before bed, including rinsing the flavor of alcohol and stomach acid out of his mouth.

Was it the third or the fourth door on the right? Molly was just there and already he can’t remember. He turns the handle on the third door. It’s unlocked. He topples into the room. It is not the right room. He left Fjord on the floor, and this room has someone distinctly smaller lying on the bed.

The someone lifts their head. “Jester?”

“Oh, hey Caleb,” Molly says. He grips the door for stability. The floor is being very rude and won’t make up its mind about which angle it’s going to stay at. He accidentally shuts the door, but it’s alright. At least he’s not in a stranger’s room. “Different tiefling.” He grins. “Why? Were you expecting Jester?” That would be a surprise. Jester had been glaring at Ireena all night whenever the dwarf flirted with Fjord. Molly has wanted to talk to her about that attitude for a while. You can’t call dibs on people, and you can’t get mad if someone else makes a move on them because you haven’t yet. Something snarls in Molly’s chest at the thought that perhaps she is making a move on Caleb so Fjord will be jealous. Then again, he needs to follow his own advice.

Caleb sits up. He puts his hand over his mouth to stifle a wet rumbling belch. It’s kind of endearing. “ _Fick_. _Nein_ , I just— She brought me here and I thought perhaps she forgot something.”

“I see. Well then. I’m… I’m clearly in the wrong room.” Molly’s own stomach gurgles ominously. There shouldn’t be enough in there for him to throw up again, but it’s quite unhappy that he hasn’t started to sleep off his drink yet. He fans himself and blinks to clear his head. “Are you alright? Jester said something about you almost passing out in the street?”

“Oh, _ja_ , I have done that in the past and I ehh…did not want to do that tonight.” Caleb sniffles. “Waking up in the gutter is not a good time.”

“Not really, no.” Molly has been in that situation once or twice. The waking up might not have been fun, but the activities that led to it were always worth it. Plus it was at least entertaining to try to figure out where his pants had gone and where he had gotten all these flowers in his hair. Caleb wasn't the sort to get into those shenanigans, but apparently he wasn't as much of a stick in the mud as he let on either. “You did… You did good in the contest. You’re tougher than you look.”

Through the meager light that peeks through the drawn window curtains and with Molly’s Darkvision, he can just make out that Caleb’s face is darker than it was a moment ago. Or is it? Molly’s head is spinning too much to remember. All he can tell for certain is that, stripped of his bulky coat and with his loose undershirt draping from his shoulders, Caleb appears small and lean and soft, perfect for holding in these midnight hours. Molly slaps himself lightly on the cheek a few times. Now is not the time for that. He can’t throw himself at Caleb when they’re both drunk. It wouldn’t be right.

“Thank you, Mollymauk,” Caleb says. “I erm, I think I was encouraged by your—” he hiccups, and it’s adorable, “—your initial victory.”

“Aw, thank _you_.” Molly shuffles his feet to regain his composure as the floor dips to one side. He should go. But he wants to keep looking at Caleb. Caleb with his pretty eyes and handsome stubble and his rough yet delicate hands that Molly has had lovely thoughts about more than once, he is so very nice to look at. Even in the muted colors of Darkvision, he’s just so…so… _good-looking_. If Molly were any more sober he might have the right words to express that to Caleb.

But wait, who cares? They’re both drunk, and he has _some_ words. Now might be the best time to use them, not only because he’s not worried about coming off as a fool but because there’s always a chance neither of them will remember this anyway.

“Hey, um…uh…”

Caleb leans forward to prop his elbows on his knees. “ _Ja_?”

“I am going to tell you something,” Molly says, “and it’s gonna be weird, but I need to say it. You’re a big boy and you can go off with whomever you want. I just want this on the official record. No one can say I didn’t speak up. Okay?”

“O…Okay?” Caleb replies, head cocked in confusion.

Molly takes a deep breath. “Mister Caleb, I— I think you are very attractive, in many ways. I have wanted to kiss you since the day I met you. First moment I laid eyes on you I thought— Well, I thought, ‘Good gods, that man is a mess,’ but then I thought ‘He’s bloody cute though.’ _But!_ I got to know you pretty quickly, and it became clear that you’ve got some uh…” Molly gestures vaguely at Caleb’s head. The motion nearly knocks him off balance. “You’ve got some stuff goin’ on up there that means you’re not in a good place to be kissed or...or whatever. And I _understand_ and _respect_ that. I don’t expect you to reciprocate anything, but—” He presses his knuckles to his mouth as he burps and most of the air comes out his nose. It does not smell great. “Guh. I figured, _maybe_ , it would help if you knew how I feel. Y’know, give ya a little boost. Because you are dirty, and sad, and good _gods_ are you a nervous wreck sometimes, but that’s okay. You are still very cute, and smart, and…and lots of good other things that I don’t remember the names for, but you are them.” He smiles. “Y’know?”

Caleb stares at Molly through bleary eyes. “Oh,” is all he says.

The drunkenness is giving way to something like sensibility. Molly’s heartbeat picks up and there’s a prickling sensation in his guts that has nothing to do with his nausea. “Well, um…just thought you should know that, in case…in case it helped with anything. Uh…I’m…I’m gonna go now. Goodnight, Mister Caleb.”

Before Molly can turn away, Caleb lifts one tired arm, hand outstretched. “Mister Mollymauk?”

“Hm?” Molly’s heart beats even faster.

Caleb is motionless for a moment, a crease between his eyes as though he forgot what he was going to say. “Er um…I do not think you are very sober right now.”

Molly barks out a laugh. “You could say that.”

“And erm…I worry you might get in touble trying to get back to your room. P-Perhaps it would be safest if you uh…ssstayed here? Until you…um…” Caleb rubs his temple with the heel of his palm. “Never mind. Your room is not so far. I am sure you will be fine.”

“Caleb,” Molly says, taking a step closer to the bed. “I’ll stay if that’s what you want.”

“No no, it’s alright. You don’t have to.”

Another step closer. “But what if that’s what _I_ want, too?”

Caleb goes still again. His throat bobs as he swallows. “Then… I… If you think it would be better to um…to sleep here until you are sober enough, then…yes, of course you can stay.”

Molly sheds his coat, jerkin, and boots. “I won’t do anything you don’t want me to,” he says.

“I know. You are a good man, Mollymauk.”

Molly smiles. “Thank you. So are you.”

Caleb scoots over to make space on the bed. Molly lies on his back, as close to the edge of the bed as he comfortably can. The urge to cuddle pulses in his arms and chest like hunger in the presence of a buffet. He is not _that_ drunk. The fact that Caleb is letting him be this close is a gift in and of itself. He won’t spoil it by overstepping Caleb’s boundaries.

A moment of silence passes. Molly’s heart has yet to calm down. If anything it might be pounding loud enough for Caleb to hear it. Caleb curls up with his back to Molly. Molly allows himself one gesture of affection and pulls the covers up to tuck Caleb in.

“Mmmf… Mollymauk?”

The thundering pace of Molly’s heartbeat skips. “Yes?”

“I…I would not be opposed to a goodnight kiss.”

And with that, Molly loses track of his heart altogether. It has transcended to another level of existence somewhere bright and warm and weightless. Caleb still has his back to him, but when Molly sits up he notices that Caleb is watching him from the corner of his eye, his face tilted just enough that Molly could reach his lips if he wanted to.

Molly leans down and kisses Caleb innocently on the forehead. “Goodnight, Caleb.”

Caleb hums a soft happy noise. “Goodnight, Mollymauk.”

By morning, Caleb and Molly are sleeping close enough to share each other’s body heat, arms barely touching, both with little smiles as they dream peacefully in the safety of the other’s company.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leaves kudos and comments, and if you want to support my work even more you can find me on Ko-fi under the same name!


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